Eskom unions warn on retrenchments - by Karl Gernetzky Organised labour representatives at Eskom have warned that they are unconvinced the power utility’s bid to cut costs through voluntary severance packages will save money or avoid further losses of skilled personnel, and continue to cite a lack of consultation in the embattled parastatal’s plans to shed staff. Eskom announced in November it would offer voluntary severance packages to its 47,000 employees as it seeks to combat falling revenue, funding shortfalls and credit rating downgrades. The application process for severance, which concludes next month, has already raised fears of a further loss of skilled staff, even as the parastatal attempts to address a decade-long maintenance backlog and unplanned outages resulting from equipment breakdown. Following the announcement, there have been reports that the utility had received far more applications than expected and, after the loss of skilled personnel, had tightened up the procedure. Eskom said on Friday the process remained under way, but declined to elaborate. Applications close at the end of February. We will be in a better position to respond then, the parastatal said. National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) energy sector co-ordinator Ndlela Radebe said on Friday the union — Eskom’s largest — remained in the dark about the criteria being used during the severance process — but had been informed of the financial position of Eskom. Unions were not given an opportunity to engage, even though we believe there are other options and areas where Eskom is wasting money, he said. Some individuals’ application had been declined without clear reasons, while some people had subsequently opted to resign. This raised concern about the senseless loss of skills, he said. National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) energy sector co-ordinator Stephen Nhlapo said on Friday the union had not been afforded the opportunity to raise its concerns Eskom had a track record of cutting staff, then re-hiring them as consultants, which inflated personnel costs, he said. The structure is bloated. They haven’t addressed the real issues, which are the base structures of management, he said. The cost of employees is not the big cost, it is the use of consultants, he said. The NUM, which represents about 16,000 Eskom employees, and Numsa, which represents about 10,000, said they continued to analyse both the utility’s low reserve margins and the severance process. Solidarity, which represents about 7,000 mainly skilled personnel, has questioned the effect of the process on morale and called for its reversal. With Sikonathi Mantshantsha Article provided with the kind courtesy of bdlive.co.za
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 09:29:26 +0000
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